GB2231195A - Thermal power generation by electrically controlled fusion - Google Patents

Abstract

The process by which deuterons adsorbed into a palladium cathode combine to generate heat energy is enhanced under the control of an electrical current flowing around an all-metal circuit including the cathode. This current is an A.C. current very much greater than the ionic anode-cathode current involved in deuteron adsorption. It causes adsorbed deuterons to excite fusion-triggering vacuum energy fluctuations when traversing field boundaries inside the cathode in the presence of a strong electron counterflow. Deuterium may be absorbed into the cathode by electrolysis or by corona discharge. <IMAGE>

Description

THERMAL POWER GENERATION BY ELECTRICALLY CONTROLLED ION FUSION FIELD OF INVENTION This invention relates to the control of the fusion of hydrogen isotopes absorbed in a cathode conductor.

It is now known that, when a palladium cathode is used in the electrolytic decomposition of heavy water, the deuterons which find their way into the palladium can, once the concentration builds to a sufficient level, be caused to combine in what appears to be a process of nuclear fusion of the deuterons.

This invention concerns the enhancement of this process by an electrical action secondary to that of the electrolysis and which also may be applied where the deuterons have been absorbed into the base conductor by using electrical means other than electrolysis.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION The basic problem concerning this fusion discovery is that of understanding how energy sufficient to overcome the fusion threshold can be available in low energy apparatus. An equally basic problem is that of understanding how the actions in a solid conductor can influence how two deuterons combine.

Thirdly, there is the question of understanding whether hydrogen or deuterium absorbed into a metal retains its atomic form, with a satellite electron screening it from external matter. If the atom can shed its electron to contribute it to the free conduction electron population, then the hydrogen nucleus, be it proton, deuteron or triton is exposed.

Experimental research suggests that this does in fact occur, the single electron of the atom becoming part of the electron band structure involved in the electrical conductivity of the host substance. Under these circumstances fusion will occur, given proximity of the proton or deuteron with another such proton or deuteron, plus something having negative charge that can serve to bind the two positive charges, plus a catalytic energy fluctuation of adequate strength.

In approaching these questions the inventor stresses that it is manifestly wrong to regard the nucleus of any atom as comprising neutrons and protons. Neutrons are only known experimentally in their short-lived free state and even then can be said to be formed from an antiproton and a fluctuating entourage of electron-positron pairs plus a positron. This is justied from the related explanation of single neutron diffraction and the precise theoretical derivation of the negative magnetic moment of the neutron. See the inventor's papers: 'A causal theory for neutron diffraction', Physics Letters A, vol. 119, p. 105 (l986) and 'The theoretical nature of the neutron and the deuteron', Hadronic Journal, vol.

9 p. 129 (1986). Atomic nuclei, therefore, are undoubtedly composed of protons and/or antiprotons bound together by other charged particles, including electrons. The deuteron, in its most simple form, comprises two protons bound together by an intermediate electron. This is shown in the second of these references.

On this basis there is justification for regarding electrons as providing the binding action which can hold three protons together to form the triton from two deuterons which shed one proton in the process.

All that then is required to realize the possibility of deuteron fusion is an understanding of how enough energy can be available to stimulate two deuterons and an electron into a relationship close enough to allow the Coulomb forces to pull them together so that the repulsion of the positive charges is more than offset by the attraction of an electron sitting between them.

Concerning this energy, there are two possible routes to understanding the action, neither of which forms part of accepted physics at this time, but both of which can be inferred from scientific data of public record. The invention is not concerned with the actual nature of these energy fluctuations, but rather with the techniques by which the fusion processes are enhanced. However, it is important that those implementing this invention have some degree of understanding of the physics likely to be involved.

The first theoretical route is that described in the inventor's above-referenced Hadronic Journal paper. The deuteron is a three- state system cyclically changing from one state to the other at a high frequency deemed to be in the infra red range of the electromagnetic spectrum. For 29X of the time it comprises two antiprotons bound together by three positrons (state A). For 14% of the time it comprises a proton and an anti proton bound together by an electron-positron pair, with a free but close positron (state B). For 57% of the time it comprises simply two protons bound together by an electron (state C). This fluctuating state of the deuteron means that its core system is neutral for 14% of the time and so its magnetic moment is that arising from its positive core charge during 86% of the time.In fact, the deuteron has a corresponding magnetic moment of 0.86 nuclear magnetons. Thereferenced Hadronic Journal paper verifies this to part per million precision.

It is not unreasonable, therefore, to expect that when two deuterons are closely adjacent in a crystal lattice of a host substance, and they both happen to be in their quasi-neutral states (state B), with conduction electrons close enough to transiently neutralize the free positrons, then an energy fluctuation setting the deuterons in violent oscillation can conceivably bring them close enough to fuse. This action does not involve neutron emission. The neutron is never sensed as a nuclear constituent in physical experiments. It is always detected in its free state and its assumed presence inside atomic nuclei is pure speculation by theoretical physicists.

Unsupported theory cannot stand in the way of the experimental discovery that fusion of deuterons can occur in palladium as a host substance and occur without neutron emission.

The fact is that the neutron has a magnetic moment which is not equal to the difference between that of the deuteron and the proton, as one would expect if ground state deuteron composition included a neutron and a proton. The neutron magnetic moment is measured by using free neutrons in passage through a water sample and measuring the relative values of neutron and proton magnetic moment. The above reference to the inventor's Hadronic Journal paper discloses how the neutron magnetic moment is found to be precisely that measured in spite of the part per ten million accuracy of that measurement. The neutron has itself a cyclically changing state, which involves an antiproton with an entourage of electrons and positrons.

Given that the deuterons contain no neutrons and that they are transiently neutral in a host metal such as palladium, their nuclear fusion then becomes possible, subject to an adequate energy fluctuation. A normal energetic impulse asserted by a high energy particle collision could stimulate fusion, but then there is need for high energy priming means, such as lasers or powerful magnetic field containment of bombardinbg electrons etc. Such actions might well generate high energy by-products, resulting in the creation of neutrons and their emission.

However, with 'cold' fusion in mind, there is purpose now in examining the second theoretical route followed by the inventor.

Reference is now made to copending U.K. Patent Application No.

8,723,881 filed on 12 October 1987 by the applicant.

This presented a very extensive account of the vacuum activity deemed to be associated with the phenomenon of gravitation.

Energy in the background vacuum can be deployed to set up an inertial balance with the perpetual jitter motion or Zitterbewegung that is characteristic of the Heisenberg Uncertainty and the Compton electron frequency. The point of importance was that this balance involved virtual particles which were constantly decaying and were being constantly recreated in the presence of matter. These particles deploy energy from the zero-point background field, putting that in deficit whilst concentrating energy in quanta having an energy measure exactly matching that of matter present. These quanta are termed gravitons and there are essentially two levels of graviton state. Each comprises a particle cluster. The lower state is a cluster of three virtual particles, one denoted g of mass-energy 2.587 GeV and two tau particles each of mass-energy 1.781 GeV.This basic cluster is a unit which balances a mass of matter amounting in energy terms to 6.149 GeV or 6.60 atomic mass units.

As disclosed in the specification of these earlier-filed patent applications, the presence of concentrated matter in the form of heavy atomic nuclei is conducive to the transformation of the low state graviton clusters into merged form as supergraviton clusters. These each represent an inertial balance for 102 atomic mass units (95.01 GeV) and it was this feature that was seen as being very relevant to the perovskite warm superconductor phenomenon, because the molecules form in groups which are integral multiples of 102 in mass unit terms.

Even in pure metals this 102 atomic mass unit factor plays a role in influencing higher temperature superconductivity.

Conventional theory would suggest that uranium 235 should be superconductive at a higher temperature than uranium 238.

However, experiments shows the reverse, as seen from the paper by R. D. Fowler et al in Physical Review Letters, vol. 19, p.

892 (1967). Note then that three uranium 238 atoms have a composite atomic mass of some 714 units, which is precisely 7 times 102. The 102 factor is seen as signifying a resonance at which the supergravitons can have a dedicated and close association with a discrete atom or group of atoms.

Generally, the supergravitons will discharge the primary role of providing the gravitational dynamic balance in dense matter.

They do, however, break up into normal graviton states in less dense matter, as in a gas or as in association with free hydrogen in a liquid. That this means is that, as deuterons are absorbed into a cathode where the supergraviton state prevails, there is an inflow of normal gravitons. This results in an ongoing activity as the gravitons share their energy and merge to form the supergravitons. They do this without involving any permanent transfer of energy to or from the matter state, but the activity involves certain vacuum energy fluctuations that are present as free light nuclei become closely associated with a heavy atomic nucleus as occurs upon entry into a dense material. It can be shown that possibly as much as about 6 XeV of energy is transiently surplus for each arriving deuteron.This is sufficient as a catalytic stimulus conducive to the fusion of two deuterons.

The derivation of this 6 XeV quantity is explained by noting that it takes 31 low graviton states to create a pair of supergraviton states, meaning that 31(6.149) GeV creates 2(95.01) GeV to give a surplus of 599 XeV apportioned between the 100 or so arriving deuterons which account for that 31 times 6.149 GeV units of mass-energy.

It is pertinent to note that the supergraviton state is really an optional state which arises where an atom or molecule vibrating in its jitter state is of such mass that it is dynamically balanced by one or more supergravitons. A resonance then occurs which makes the supergraviton state more stable. Also, there is a greater chance of supergravitons being formed if other supergravitons are present, because the stability criteria are enhanced by a mutual interaction. One might expect that the perfect medium for this activity is one in which the atoms present have a mass of 102 atomic mass units or twice this, namely 204 atomic mass units. Xercury and lead are the only elements containing stable 204 isotopes and ruthenium and palladium are the only elements containing stable 102 isotopes.

For fusion to occur on the basis of the vacuum energy fluctuations associated with the graviton to supergraviton transformation, the ions involved must be close enough together to be able to fuse, given the transient impulse provided by their share of the energy involved. Ruthenium and palladium are notorious for their capacity to store hydrogen, palladium having a capacity to absorb hydrogen gas amounting to about one thousand times its own volume. This means that the hydrogen atoms absorbed can equal the number of palladium atoms. Each palladium atom has one supergraviton paired with it, because it is the element having 102 as its lowest isotopic mass.

Accordingly, the conditions favouring the fusion possibility are greatly enhanced when hydrogen or deuterium or their ion equivalents, the proton or the deuteron, are absorbed to saturation limits by palladium or ruthenium. However, this does not preclude use of other substances of higher atomic mass, for example mercury and lead.

The invention to be described addresses the problem of controlling the rate of fusion by electrical techniques which aim at enhancing the action. Copending U.K. Patent Application No. 8,907,249 filed on 31 Xarch 1989 and involving the same inventor discusses how the action can be controlled by the electrical system external to the palladium conductor surface.

The present invention is concerned with electrical action set up within the conductor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Essentially, the invention addresses the action of causing deuterons adsorbed into a host metal such as palladium to fuse in a nuclear sense by an action which stimulates the zero-point graviton energy fluctuations discussed above. The invention is concerned with enhancing such action in a controlled manner to levels which exceed results obtained from the normal electrolysis oxide using a palladium cathode with simple monitoring of the anode to cathode current.

According to one aspect of the invention, thermal power generating apparatus comprises an electrical conductor, a power source in the form of a fluid which contains a concentration of an isotope of hydrogen, electrically activated means for causing the hydrogen isotope to be adsorbed from the fluid into the surface of the conductor, heat exchange means for transferring heat energy from the conductor to an external system utilizing the heat energy generated, and electrical current supply means independent of the circuit through said electrically activated means for causing an electrical current to flow in a closed circuit including the conductor.

The current in the closed circuit including the conductor can be an A.C. current supplied via a current transformer of which the conductor is a secondary winding. It can, therefore, be a substantial current subject only to the low ohmic losses in the closed highly conductive conductor circuit.

According to a feature of the invention, the fluid containing the hydrogen isotope is a gas and said electrically activated means comprise a high voltage D.C. power source which sustains corona discharge at the surface of the conductor, owing to the high curvature of the conductor surface, whereby positive ions of the hydrogen isotope are formed at the surface of the conductor, said conductor constituting the cathode of an electrode system powered by said D.C. power source. In this case, the heat exchange means for transferring heat energy from the conductor utilizes the gas as a coolant by circulating it through said external system.

According to an alternative feature of the invention, the fluid containing the hydrogen isotope is a liquid electrolyte of aqueous composition in which there is an electrode system comprising an anode and the conductor as a cathode, said electrically activated means comprising a low voltage D.C.

power source which powers the electrolytic adsorption of the hydrogen isotope into the surface of the conductor. In this case, the heat exchange means for transferring heat energy from the conductor utilizes the electrolyte as a coolant by circulating it through said external system.

According to another feature of the invention, the conductor is hollow and provides a channel through which heat energy is drawn from the apparatus by coolant passing therethrough, and the apparatus is characterized in that the fluid containing the hydrogen isotope is an aqueous liquid solution and pressure applying means are provided which ensure that it is under sufficient pressure to elevate the boiling point above the operating temperature of the conductor, which temperature is above the boiling point of the coolant.

The aqueous liquid solution may be heavy water containing a solute rendering it electrically conductive, and the coolant may also have the same composition, the external system for utilizing the heat energy supplied to the coolant comprising a separator, a circulation channel, a steam driven machine and a condenser, which collectively apply the steam produced in the coolant to provide mechanical output power, whilst recycling the heated water through the hollow conductor as well as the cooled condensation product of the steam.

According to a feature of the invention, the conductor is hollow and provides a channel through which heat energy is drawn from the apparatus by coolant passing therethrough, and is characterized in that the fluid power source is deuterium gas and the coolant is heavy water, the external system for utilizing the heat energy supplied to the coolant comprising a separator, a circulation channel, a steam driven machine and a condenser, which collectively apply the steam produced in the coolant to provide mechanical output power, whilst recycling the heated water through the hollow conductor as well as the cooled condensation product of the steam.

According to another aspect of the invention, an electrically controlled ion fusion process in which a concentrated form of an isotope of hydrogen is adsorbed by an electrical conductor, is characterized by the step of passing an electrical current around a closed all-metal short-circuit formed by the conductor. The electrical current may be a pulsed electrical discharge and the control exercised by varying the discharge pulse rate. Alternatively it could be a pulsed electrical discharge and the control exercised by varying the discharge voltage. In apparatus for implementing this process a preferred method of supplying the conductor current is to use a conductor which is formed as a closed circuit secondary loop of a current transformer, with a pulsed electrical discharge supplied to the primary winding of the transformer.

According to still another aspect of the invention, a thermal power generating apparatus in which deuterons adsorbed in the surface of a metal conductor combine to generate heat, comprises means for supplying an electrical control current through the conductor, characterized in that the conductor constitutes part of an all-metal circuit path for the electrical control current which does not include said conductor surface, the conductor being of a substance which comprises atoms, which when grouped together with adsorbed deuterons form molecular entities that have a resonant mass equal to an integer combination of 102 and 6.6 atomic mass units. This includes, for example, palladium of atomic mass near to 106.6 or gallium of atomic mass near to 69.73.By 'integer combination' is meant a quantity of standard units of atomic mass on the carbon 12 scale equal to n times 102 plus s times 6.6, where n and N are integers. Thus for palladium n and N are unity and for gallium n and E are both 2, the latter applying to a molecular entity comprising three gallium atoms plus four deuterons. A guide to the degree of equality and the limiting value of such integer values is afforded by the physical evidence of the 'warm' superconductivity graviton resonance states, which can involve as many as 14 of the 102 supergraviton mass quantities.

For example, it is known that lanthanum copper oxide is a 'warm' superconductor and that yttrium, lutetium or gadolinium can be substituted for lanthanum whilst still providing a 'warm' superconductor. Note then that three lutetium copper oxide atoms can group together to form a resonant molecular entity of total atomic mass which is close to 14 times 102 mass units. The copper oxide component of each atom, being one copper plus four oxygen atoms, accounts for 127.5 units and two lutetium atoms each of 175 units gives 477.5. Three such structures add to a resonant mass of some 14 supergraviton units. Gadolinium has an atomic mass of 157.25 so that two such atoms plus the copper oxide sum to 442. Three such structures have a combined resonant mass of 1326 atomic mass units, which is an integer multiple of 102, the integer being 13 in this case.

The point of this latter discussion is that the supergraviton resonant mass relationship does seem to have physical relevance even where as many as 14 supergravitons share in the resonant action of three molecules forming a resonant group. The electrically conductive substances in which deuterium is adsorbed can, on this basis and for the purpose of the 'cold' fusion objective, be chosen for their quality in adsorbing enough deuterons and their atomic mass properties, as extended to a plurality of atoms or molecules forming a resonant group.

Hence the choice of gallium as a possible substitute for palladium.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING Fig. 1 shows a schematic representation of a circuit configuration in which a conductor absorbs deuterons by electrolysis and is controlled by electrical techniques using the invention.

Fig. 2 shows a more extensive schematic version of the configuration in Fig. 1, with provision for generating steam by heat extraction through a hollow cathode conductor.

Fig. 3 shows a modified arrangement in which a conductor absorbs deuterons by exposure to high pressure deuterium gas in the presence of electrical discharges and is controlled by electrical discharges fed to the conductor via a current transformer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Before describing the apparatus by which the invention may be implemented, some further aspects of a theoretical nature warrant comment.

An issue of importance is whether the deuteron fusion activity is a volume effect or a surface effect in relation to the host metal. Also, one needs to understand whether protons, as opposed to deuterons, are likely to be involved in the fusion process. The absence of neutron emission, which many physicists regard as the signature of a fusion reaction, is not seen as a relevant consideration, for the reasons already presented.

Concerning proton fusion, if the inventor's theory of the cyclic states of the deuteron, including the 14% transient neutral core state B, holds valid, then this will be a distinguishing factor relative to the non-cyclic fully charged state of the proton. Deuteron fusion is, therefore, the feasible consideration on such theory, to the exclusion of proton fusion. However, it is not felt that theory as such should limit the scope of this invention and in its broadest aspect this invention is not considered as restricted to deuteron fusion.

Concerning the volume or surface effect, the zero-point vacuum energy fluctuations connected with the graviton-supergraviton transitions discussed in theoretical terms are seen as surface effects. The energy fluctuation occurs as light atomic nuclei with the graviton association enter the host metal with its supergraviton association.

However, it must be appreciated that the palladium atoms have their mass concentrated in a nucleus surrounded by electrons which move in space not populated by heavy particles and so can inherently be subject to graviton energy fluctuations.

Thus even in the bulk body of the palladium, and particularly if the palladium contains impurities, inclusions of light atomic matter, there is, in effect, an extensive inner surface area separating graviton-populated regions from super-graviton populated regions. It is then likely, therefore, that the fusion phenomenon, with which this invention is concerned, is a surface or boundary phenomenon, but which can occur inside the host metal and in measure related to volume. Equally, one can expect that the action can be enhanced if that host metal is so structured that the inner active surfaces of inclusions or crystal boundaries, as well as external surface area is caused to be substantially increased.

The supergraviton quantum has a characteristic mass of 102 atomic mass units and the graviton has a characteristic mass of 6.60 atomic mass units. A resonant condition arises when a palladium atom becomes newly paired with a deuteron and a large number of such systems exist in very close proximity before the resonance decays. Note that the atomic weight of the normal mix of palladium isotopes is approximately 106.4. The atomic weight of the deuteron is 2. Together these add to a mass which is very nearly identical to the combined mass of the graviton and supergraviton. Resonance, meaning a period of sustained conditions before the gravitons collectively decay to create supergravitons sharing the dynamic action, holds for a longer period if the dynamic balance just mentioned is more highly tuned.This allows more newly arriving deuterons to take up positions in collective groups conducive to concerted decay which apportions energy fluctuations in sufficient concentration to trigger fusion.

From this it is seen that the invention must aim at promoting deuteron transit through the host palladium, rather than merely securing entry and concentration. Transit creates vacancies at palladium sites for newly arriving deuterons. Also, one needs to understand that other host metals have properties that could be conducive to deuteron fusion. For example, if gallium with an atomic weight of 69.72 could form a molecular group comprising three gallium atoms and four deuterons, an even closer resonant state involving two gravitons and two supergravitons could occur. The combined mass of such a unit is 217.16, which is almost exactly twice the sum of 102 plus 6.60. One should not, therefore, rule out the possibility of using this invention to extract energy from heavy water by using gallium as a catalyst.

The circuit shown in fig. 1 comprises a source 1 of A.C.

current feeding a series loop comprising a closed circuital cathode conductor element 2, via a current transformer 3. The cathode is immersed in a cell 4 containing heavy water 5 which is undergoing electrolysis by virtue of a steady D.C. low voltage source 7 connected between platinum anode structure 6 and palladium cathode element 2. Deuterons are thereby fed as an ion current into the surface of the cathode. The A.C.

supply can be powered intermittently in a controlled manner to supply overload currents through the conductor with consequent intensification of the negative electron current flow in one direction and also of a corresponding positive deuteron flow in the opposite direction.

It is the deuteron flow through the cathode which promotes substitution of deuterons in their close association with palladium atoms, such substitution being essential if the resonant graviton process discussed above is occurring in the manner described. Thus the vacuum energy fluctuations are activated and enhanced by causing current to flow through the cathode in addition to any current entering as part of the flow in the anode-cathode circuit. Because the conductor 2 is virtually a short-circuit load on the current transformer 3 it can, as an all-metal circuit of low electrical conductivity, carry a high current with very little ohmic power loss. The current strength can be greater by a factor of at least one hundred times that of the current in the anode-cathode circuit through the electrolyte.

It is the free conduction electrons in the body of the cathode that can serve as the binding action fusing two deuterons to form tritium with release of nuclear energy as heat. These electrons combined with the vacuum energy fluctuations associated with the graviton activity accompanying the changing molecular forms have greater effect when fed by a short duration discharge current of several hundred amperes per square centimeter of cathode conductor cross-section.. The ohmic energy expended by the closed circuital current in the cathode is minimal compared with the energy released in a controlled manner by the fusion stimulated.

The heavy water may comprise a commercially available form of deuterium oxide of a purity in excess of 99X and containing a very small amount of solute rendering it suitable for electrolysis. It can be circulated via input and output ports in the containing cell 4 connected to heat exchangers external to the apparatus shown. Thus surplus heat generated in the apparatus can be deployed into useful purposes.

In the arrangement shown in Fig. 1 the cathode conductor has two terminals 8 and 9 located outside the cell 4 and these provide connections in the all-metal circuit for the controlling current. Means not shown in Fig. 1, but of a design familiar to those skilled in the electrical engineering art, provide the power supply for the A.C. current. This supply is preferably intermittent in that it either comprises short duration single pulse surges or trains of A.C.

oscillations which are controlled either by adjusting the period between these events or the amplitude of the voltages involved or both. A schematic representatian of such controls is shown in Fig. 2 by the adjustable control of the primary turns of transformer 3 and the switch 10 in the primary circuit. Switch 10 may be an electronic device in the form of a pair of silicon controlled rectifiers which serve to gate the current supply to current transformer 3 and an adjustable control of the operation of these rectifiers In this way the rate at which the fusion process proceeds, based on the population level of deuterons absorbed by the conductor can be regulated.

As shown in Fig. 2, the cathode conductor element 2 can provide a tubular conduit for cooling fluid used to extract the heat generated. The heavy water in cell 4 can be at a high pressure at which the boiling point is elevated well above normal. Thus ports 11 can serve as channels for extracting gaseous byproducts at a high regulated pressure and the controlled admission of replenishment heavy water at the high pressure.

This allows the temperature within the cathode conductor to be higher than the boiling point of heavy water in passage through it as a coolant at lower pressure, but yet a pressure sufficient for the steam so produced to power a turboelectric generator system 12 in which the heavy water is recycled via condensers at 13. The chamber 14 acts as a separator in which steam can collect above the water and the recirculating pump 15 draws water from this separator and the condenser at rates controlled to sustain the balance of the flows involved.

Referring now to Fig. 3, there are two variations from the Fig.

1 system, either of which can be adopted separately from the other. One is that the cathode conductor element 2 is now closed on itself electrically within the cell. It no longer provides a throughput conduit for external flow of the cooling fluid, because heat is to be extracted from the fluid inside the cell by channelling that in and out of ports 16 and 17.

a The other is that the cell 4 is nowLhigh pressure gas cell containing deuterium gas as this fluid. The cathode conductor can now operate at substantially higher temperature so that the gas in the cell is itself at such a temperature. Furthermore the role of the concentric anode structure 6 is to set up a corona discharge confined to the cathode region. To this end the steady D.C. voltage source 7 is a high voltage measured in tens or hundreds of kilovolts, depending upon the gas pressures used and the scale of the apparatus.

Fig. 3 really shows an arcuate segment of an annular system, drawn this way to make the comparison with Fig. 1 easier.

In operation, this activity, aided by the pressure and temperature, but more by the fact that there is ionization, encourages the deuterium ions to be absorbed into the cathode.

The current transformer configuration exciting the discharges around the all-metal ring cathode conductor is represented by the magnetic core 18 and the primary winding 19.

It is believed that the manner in which the system decribed can generate heat and so power by the nuclear fusion of deuterons will be evident from the earlier description. However, the actual physical processes by which the deuterons are brought close enough to fuse have yet to be fully researched. If the graviton action discussed ultimately proves not to be the catalytic source of energy fluctuations needed to trigger fusion, then the invention as disclosed and claimed remains viable, but some other fundamental physical process of energy action needs to be recognized.

;rS In such a situation andlorder to better understand the basis on which the secondary current flow through the cathode conductor might enhance the fusion activity, it is necessary to examine a possible characteristic of electrical conduction.

When a current flows through a solid conductor it is generally supposed that the current distributes itself uniformly across the conductor cross section, unless there are rapid cyclic or transient effects which then cause some distortion due to skin effects In a plasma discharge the converse can apply and the discharge can pinch itself into a filament. What is not realised in the electrical engineering art is the fact that the current in a solid conductor may be concentrated in filaments which snake around inside the conductor to distribute the flow in what is essentially a statistically uniform distribution.

This means that what is often regarded as a low speed of migration of electrons carrying current can really be an extremely rapid flow of electrons following in line one behind the other in their meanderings past atoms forming the lattice of the solid conductor. Such individual electrons have very much higher energy than is calculable from the uniform flow theory. Thus when they do come into engagement with atoms their action can be very powerful, especially if the discharge current in the filament is very high, owing to a high surge voltage having been applied. Such processes can also be said to have particular connection with certain metals as host conductors. The 'warm' superconductivity phenomenon already mentioned is deemed to be associated with conductors comprising atoms having molecular structures that are multiples of 102 atomic mass units. Hence, palladium, though not a 'warm' superconductor may nevertheless be a conductor in which filamentary current flow is likely to be more prevalent.

It is conceivable that this is an action that can regulate the chance of deuteron fusion in the process described above.

Furthermore, the process can be enhanced if the A.C.

oscillations in the circuital cathode current have high frequency causing the current filaments to tend to concentrate in the cathode surface regions. It is here that the incoming deuterons are bringing their low state gravitons into the cathode and so it is here that the vacuum energy fluctuations are more active.

The above description of the invention has been based on certain theoretical statements. These should in no way be seen as essential to the definition af this invention. They are merely the inventor's personal way of rationalizing the basis on which the invention operates. To give a broader perception which involves some speculation, reference is now made to the inventor's article 'The Proton Factor and its Unknown Effects', which appeared at page 3725 of the October 1988 issue of The Toth-Baatian Review, a U.S. publication published by Dr. Harold Milnes of 3101 20th Street, Lubbock, Texas 79410. The researches of Dr. Paul E. Rowe were discussed and particular comment was made concerning a paper by C. A.Skinner 'The Evolution of Hydrogen Atoms from the Cathode and its Absorption by the Anode in Gases', Physical Review, vol. 21, pp. 1 - 15 (1905).

In this article the inventor discussed the rather odd situation that neutral hydrogen atoms could flow from cathode to anode, bearing also in mind that if the flow involved protons and electrons separately then the hydrogen should come from the anode. What is interesting here is that the flow of hydrogen from the cathode would reverse the graviton situation discussed above. The supergravitons in the cathode would need to absorb energy in quanta of 3 NeV per hydrogen atom so that they could decay to the low state graviton form. Remember then that this is merely a vacuum energy fluctuation. What is absorbed in one direction is matched by a reverse fluctuation momentarily thereafter and matter present can be affected one way or the other.

In the article just referenced the inventor suggested that the particles flowing through the cathode circuit in Skinner's experiments were antiprotons which, upon reaching the cathode surface, where the energetic vacuum fluctuations exist, encounter electron-positron pairs to cause an electron to flow into the cathode and release an antiproton-positron system.

This is a neutron but, as the inventor stated on p. 3733, 'The energy released by neutron decay will revert to the zero-point field to keep things in balance, but the driving force has been that 50,000 volts'. The latter was a reference to the voltage powering the electrode discharge in the experiment discussed.

The point of this is that the basis for nuclear activity is inherent in these early 1905 experiments, but in order to control the action it is necessary to understand more about the processes involved. Assuming that neutrons are best avoided in view of the radioactive pollution they might cause, it seems best to avoid the use of highly powered arc discharges between anode and cathode which work in the way just described. This is the advantage offered by the subject invention in that the inflow of deuterons into the cathode, which is a consequence of ion migration by electrolysis or local corona activity in pressurized deuterium is seen as the preferred technique. The energy fluctuations are still believed to be sourced in the graviton activity and the control in this case comes from the powerful closed circuital current confined within the cathode circuit.

Claims (17)

1. Thermal power generating apparatus comprising an electrical conductor, a power source in the form of a fluid which contains a concentration of an isotope of hydrogen, electrically activated means for causing the hydrogen isotope to be adsorbed from the fluid into the surface of the conductor, heat exchange means for transferring heat energy from the conductor to an external system utilizing the heat energy generated, and electrical current supply means independent of a circuit through said electrically activated means for causing an electrical current to flow in a closed circuit including the conductor.

2. Thermal power generating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said electrical current supply means is an A.C. power source supplying the primary winding of a current transformer of which the conductor is a secondary winding.

3. Thermal power generating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said fluid is a gas and said electrically activated means comprise a high voltage D.C. power source which sustains corona discharge at the surface of the conductor, owing to the high curvature of the conductor surface, whereby positive ions of the hydrogen isotope are formed at the surface of the conductor, said conductor constituting the cathode of an electrode system powered by said D.C. power source.

4. Thermal power generating apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the heat exchange means for transferring heat energy from the conductor utilizes the gas as a coolant by circulating it through said external system.

5. Thermal power generating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said fluid is a liquid electrolyte of aqueous composition in which there is an electrode system comprising an anode and the conductor as a cathode, said electrically activated means comprising a low voltage D.C. power source which powers the electrolytic adsorption of the hydrogen isotope into the surface of the conductor.

6. Thermal power generating apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the heat exchange means for transferring heat energy from the conductor utilizes the electrolyte as a coolant by circulating it through said external system.

7. Thermal power generating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conductor is hollow and provides a channel through which heat energy is drawn from the apparatus by coolant passing therethrough, characterized in that the fluid power source is an aqueous liquid solution and pressure applying means are provided which ensure that it is under sufficient pressure to elevate the boiling point above the operating temperature of the conductor, which temperature is above the boiling point of the coolant.

8. Thermal power generating apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the aqueous liquid solution is heavy water containing a solute rendering it electrically conductive, and the coolant is also of the same composition, the external system for utilizing the heat energy supplied to the coolant comprising a separator, a circulation channel, a steam driven machine and a condenser, which collectively apply the steam produced in the coolant to provide mechanical output power, whilst recycling the heated water through the hollow conductor as well as the cooled condensation product of the steam.

9. Thermal power generating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conductor is hollow and provides a channel through which heat energy is drawn from the apparatus by coolant passing therethrough, characterized in that the fluid power source is deuterium gas and the coolant is heavy water, the external system for utilizing the heat energy supplied to the coolant comprising a separator, a circulation channel, a steam driven machine and a condenser, which collectively apply the steam produced in the coolant to provide mechanical output power, whilst recycling the heated water through the hollow conductor as well as the cooled condensation product of the steam.

10. An electrically controlled ion fusion process in which a concentrated form of an isotope of hydrogen is adsorbed by an electrical conductor, characterized by the step of passing an electrical current around a closed all-metal short-circuit formed by the conductor.

11. An ion fusion process according to claim 10, characterized in that the electrical current is a pulsed electrical discharge and the control is exercised by varying the discharge pulse rate.

12. An ion fusion process according to claim 11, characterized in that the electrical current is a pulsed electrical discharge and the control is exercised by varying the discharge voltage.

13. An ion fusion process according to claim 10, characterized in that the electrical current has a magnitude that is greater than an ionic current producing the adsorption of the hydrogen isotopes by the conductor.

14. An ion fusion process according to claim 13, characterized in that the electrical current is an A.C. current of magnitude greater than one hundred times that of an ionic D.C. current producing the adsorption of the hydrogen isotopes by the conductor.

15. Thermal power generating apparatus in which deuterons adsorbed in the surface of a metal conductor combine to generate heat, comprising means for supplying an electrical control current through the conductor, characterized in that the conductor constitutes part of an all-metal circuit path for the electrical control current which does not include traversal of said conductor surface, the conductor being of a substance which comprises atoms, which when grouped together with adsorbed deuterons form a molecular entities that have a resonant mass equal to an integer combination of 102 and 6.6 atomic mass units.

16. Thermal power generating apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the conductor is composed of palladium.

17. Thermal power generating apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the conductor is composed of gallium.